Cold
by 4luv4evr428
Summary: A mishap in the apartment building forces the Ricardos into a new temporary home.


I.

The sun rose over New York, but it did little to add warmth to the city that had been thrust into a deep winter freeze. Temperatures had hovered at or around zero degrees for several days. The entire population was weather weary, but none more than the ones who'd transplanted themselves here from the tropics, including Ricky.

Despite the cold, the skies had at least been bright and clear. But when the snow arrived that morning, it seemed to add insult to injury. Lucy glanced out the window at the flurry of flakes that had begun to fall. It was nearly time for Ricky to wake up, but she didn't have the heart to disturb his sleep and what she was sure were dreams of warm sunshine and palm trees. If she didn't know better, she'd have sworn that the sight of snow would surely send him on the next plane back to Havana. It was only his second winter in New York and although he'd fared the first one rather well, this season had proven to be harsher than the last. Whenever he left the house, he did so wearing enough clothes to give him the appearance of being at least ten pounds heavier than his lean, muscular frame actually was. When he was home and especially at night, it was all Lucy could do to keep him under the sufficient cover of blankets.

For all Ricky's suffering, Fred had been unmoved to turn the thermostat up by even one degree. Even Ethel, who, while mocking his thrifty nature, normally didn't fight against it, had pleaded with him to increase the heat.

Since it seemed to be a losing battle, Lucy sighed and switched her gaze from the window to the calendar on the kitchen wall. It was late January, so she calculated that there would be perhaps another month and a half before long-term relief from winter would emerge. She hadn't reflected long before she heard a tremendously loud, popping sound, followed by what she could swear was the sound of rushing water.

Lucy wasn't sure whereabouts the sounds were coming from, but the sound of yelling below her soon joined the chaos. She wandered out of the apartment and into the hallway, where her neighbors had also gathered. "What's going on?" Lucy was incredulous, now recognizing that the yelling voice was Ethel's.

Ms. Lewis, an old unmarried woman in a thin flannel robe and with her hair in a mess of curlers, looked at Lucy in response. "It was bound to happen with the heat so low and the weather getting colder by the day! A pipe burst!"

Another neighbor, Mr. Arnold, who was a cantankerous man with thinning hair and was an electrician by trade, shook his head. "Now it's gonna cost that old cheapskate ten times what it would've cost for the coal!"

Lucy covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, goodness. Poor Fred…"

Mr. Arnold's wife emerged from their apartment in a robe and with a shower cap on her head, irate. "Poor Fred?! Now it's not only cold but there's no water!"

Lucy sighed as the neighbors continued murmuring amongst each other. They all turned silent as Ethel made her way up from the basement, her feet wet from what was undoubtedly a flood downstairs.

She looked at her gathered tenants. "There's a plumber on the way," she said curtly as she disappeared into her own apartment.

II.

Three hours later, Ricky sat in the living room, reading the newspaper while wrapped in a thick blanket. Lucy walked in from the hallway, where she'd been waiting with the other neighbors for news about the repair to the burst pipe.

He looked up at her. "What's the story?"

She stood with her arms crossed in front of her, partly to keep herself warm. "Not good, I'm afraid. The break goes right out to the street, so the city has to get involved. It's going to take two days and until then, the water has to stay off, so…we have to go for a while."

Ricky's eyes widened. "Go? Everybody?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes. Ms. Lewis is going to stay with her sister for a few days. I don't know where everyone else is going…"

They looked at each other in silence for a few moments before Ricky tossed the paper onto the coffee table and stood up, the blanket falling away from him and onto the couch in a heap. Lucy giggled at pajamas he had layered onto himself.

"Well," he finally stated, "what hotel do you wanna stay in?"

She hesitated in her response. "You want to stay in a hotel? It's an expense…"

Ricky laughed. "Do I look like Fred Mertz? We dun't have a choice! I hafta stay in the city, I hafta work. Besides," he continued as he started walking toward the bedroom, "we'll actually be WARM for a few days!"

III.

Ricky packed his clothes and his tuxedo hastily, actually eager to get out of the apartment. Lucy followed suit, still unsure of where he intended for them to go.

He worked in near silence for a time before turning to the phone in the bedroom suddenly. She continued gathering clothes for herself, watching him at the same time.

"Hello, operator," Ricky said pleasantly after a moment. "Connect me with the New Yorker Hotel, please."

Lucy tilted her head. Now that she'd heard him say it, she wasn't surprised that he'd chosen it. It was a lovely, upscale hotel while not being the priciest in the city like The Plaza or The Waldorf-Astoria. It was also a favorite of many musicians and big band leaders who came to New York. She snapped her bag shut and sat on the edge of the bed as she listed to Ricky speak to the person with whom he'd been connected.

"Good mornin', this is Ricky Ricardo. I need a room as soon as possible, for about three days. Can you help me?"

The receptionist was cheerful. "Why, yes, Mr. Ricardo. You're looking to check in today?"

"Yes, as soon as we can."

"That's fine, you're in luck. I have a few for you to choose from."

Ricky smiled. "Do you have a nice, big room? Somethin' comfortable."

The girl was quiet for a moment before answering positively. "Actually, I can give you quite a good rate on a suite with a sitting room. Forty dollars per night, but it's normally sixty."

Ricky nodded and Lucy noted that he was visibly pleased. "I'll take it! I'll be there in an hour."

He hung up the phone with a great flourish and turned to his wife. "Are you packed? Let's go!"

IV.

Lucy walked beside Ricky hurriedly as they exited the taxi with their bags and made their way into the lobby, which was a beautifully large room with a high ceiling, accentuated by one brightly lit chandelier.

Once inside, Ricky took an appreciative breath of the heated air inside, shaking the still falling snow off of the collar of his coat. He led his wife by the hand to the front desk, each of them carrying their own bags in the other.

The clerk looked up and smiled. "Can I help you?"

Ricky nodded. "Yes, I'm Ricky Ricardo, I called a little while ago about a room…"

The clerk gathered some papers in front of her. "Oh, yes, Mr. Ricardo, I can have the bellboy take your things directly upstairs, your suite is ready. The last guest there checked out days ago."

"That would be great, I have a show tonight and I'm late for rehearsal…"

The clerk struck a bell on the desk to summon the bellboy. The young man appeared after a moment and took Ricky's and Lucy's bags while the clerk handed a key to Ricky. "Fifth floor suite, please," she said to the bellboy. She turned to Ricky and smiled. "Enjoy your stay."

They followed the bellboy to an elevator and the three of them rode up to the fifth floor in silence. They followed him through the quiet, carpeted hallway, lined with numbered doors and lit by softly glowing sconces on the walls. The bellboy led them to the end of the hall and a larger numbered door. "This is your suite, sir," he stated, setting the bags down and taking the key from Ricky so he could unlock the door for them. When it was open, he stood aside and motioned for them to enter.

Lucy walked in slowly and looked around, admiring the spacious suite that was divided between a small sitting room and the bedroom. The snow was still swirling outside the wide bay window. Ricky didn't allow himself time to worry about the aesthetics of the space; he was late for rehearsal and although he was somewhat glad to be out of the cold of his apartment for a little while, the act of moving to the hotel was an unplanned inconvenience to his schedule. He shook out of his coat and pulled a few dollars out of his wallet, handing them to the bellboy. "Thank you," he nodded.

As the bellboy left the room and closed the door behind him, Lucy wandered over to where Ricky stood unpacking his bag on the bed. "You have to go already? We just got here." She sat on the edge of the bed near him.

Ricky glanced at her as he laid out his tuxedo and lifted his shirt over his head, preparing to take a shower. "Yeah, honey, I'm sorry, but I shoulda been at rehearsal three hours ago. As it is, I'm just gonna have time to make sure the boys sound alright and get somethin' to eat before tonight…"

She tucked her legs under her as she watched him undress and dash into the nearby bathroom. As the water ran, she got up and walked to the doorway, watching him move behind the frosted glass of the shower stall. For a moment, she thought about joining him and smiled. He was already late, she thought to herself, so what difference would another half hour make?

But just as she'd made up her mind to interrupt her husband's frenzied pace to get to work, the water stopped and he jumped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around himself and rushing past his wife back to the bedroom. He pulled a comb out of his bag and headed back to the bathroom. He stopped when Lucy put a hand on his arm. "Ricky, baby, you always sound so wonderful, I think you can afford to miss a rehearsal…"

Ricky looked at her and grinned. "Honey, nothin' would make me happier than to spend some time with you right now, but I hafta go." He gave her a light kiss before moving to the sink and combing back his shiny black waves.

She sighed and went back to the bedroom, where she began pulling her own clothes out of her bag. She looked around for the closet and started hanging the select dresses and shirts she'd brought. She pouted as she hung the clothes and called out to Ricky, who was still in the bathroom. "What's so special about tonight that you're in such a hurry?"

"I told you the other day," he called back. "It's not the show that's different, but the owner is havin' his winter gala." Ricky's voice was tinged with sarcasm. "He invites all his friends to see the show and have dinner and then they drink champagne and talk about how rich they are. The club is closed to the public so he can have this party."

Lucy nodded quietly, remembering that he'd indeed spoken about it. "Oh…"

He came back into the bedroom and she sensed him before she turned around to see him as the musky scent of his cologne wafted around her. She watched him dress. "Maybe it'll be fun," she mused.

Ricky rolled his eyes. "It wasn't fun last year with all of them askin' me what part of Mexico I'm from…"

She looked at him sympathetically. "Well, they won't ask THAT again, I'm sure."

He chuckled. "They won't ask me anythin' this year. They'll all be wearin' masks."

Lucy folded her arms. "Masks?"

Ricky sat on the bed to put on his shoes. "Yeah. He called it a masa, masca…"

"Masquerade?" Lucy giggled.

He nodded, glancing at her. "Yeah, what you said. His wife comes up with all these ideas."

Lucy bit her lip, remembering the costume party at the Abbotts' home that they'd been invited to several months before. "They do like to dress up, don't they?"

Ricky stood up and grabbed his coat. He paused to look at her. "I'll try not to be back too late. Get whatever you want from room service, I mean it. I dun't care about the bill." He laughed. "I should subtract it from the rent."

She nodded quietly, knowing he wouldn't actually do so. As she watched him leave, her eyes gleamed with mischief. There wouldn't be any room service bill that night.

V.

The club was full of the Abbotts' friends, just as Ricky had told Lucy it would be. They were dressed in fine gowns and tuxedos and they all wore decorated half masks over their faces. The men mostly wore black masks, but the women wore elaborate masks with sequins or large feathers. All of them revealed their eyes and the bottom halves of their faces.

As Ricky had also predicted, the champagne flowed freely and hors d'oeuvres were being passed regularly as he and the orchestra performed. When finally, his floor show was over, he directed the orchestra to play while he mingled among the dancing crowd at the instruction of Mr. Abbott. It was a task that was more difficult and tedious because Ricky couldn't recognize anyone for all the masks.

After circulating for a time, he stood against the bar where several guests had gathered. The bartender grinned at Ricky and handed him a small drink of gin. "On me," he said with a chuckle.

Ricky laughed quietly. "Thanks."

"Well, this is a tough crowd," the bartender said jokingly.

Ricky took a sip of the drink with a smile. This gala was apparently much harder for everyone than a normal night with the general public ever could be. He turned when he felt that someone was watching him.

Standing next to him at the bar was a lovely figure in a long, blue gown and a matching, shimmering blue mask with one long white feather affixed to the side. As blue as the figure's outfit was, the color was dulled by the deep sapphire eyes within the mask and its feather did nothing to hide the flash of red curls that were softly arranged atop her head. Her cherry lips turned up into a smile as Ricky's eyes widened. "How did you get in here," he stammered.

She shrugged. "It wasn't hard. I just walked in with the rest of the masks…"

He looked her up and down and swallowed. "Where did you get that outfit?"

"The costumer downtown," she replied simply.

Ricky took another sip of his drink. "It looks like it cost a fortune…"

"Well," she said mockingly, "you told me to order anything I wanted from room service. You said you didn't care about the bill. So I figured that this was money better spent." She began to turn away from him. "Besides," she continued as she showed him the back of the dress, "isn't it worth it?"

He drew in a breath when he saw that the garment was backless, held up by the delicate straps around her shoulders and revealing the soft white skin that curved over her spine before again draping over her again at the waist. How could a man ever be truly angry with something so beautiful?

Ricky put his glass firmly on the bar and smirked. "You must be freezin'."

She turned to face him again and shrugged. "I wore a coat. Anyway, if I'm freezing, it's your fault."

He was taken aback. "MY fault? How?"

She put a hand on her hip. "You were so cold with me this afternoon."

Ricky groaned softly, now feeling desperate to have her. "Awwww, honey, you know I was in a hurry…"

Hearing footsteps approach, she looked over her shoulder and spotted Mr. Abbott, probably coming for Ricky. "Well," she said, moving away from her husband suddenly, "I'm in a hurry, too."

She started to leave him hurriedly and he tried to stop her. "No, dun't go. Lucy," he hissed.

Frustrated, Ricky had to let her go as Mr. Abbott's hand fell onto his shoulder. "Ricky, there you are! There's someone I want you to meet!"

VI.

Ricky rubbed a hand over his face as he walked through the quiet hallway of the fifth floor later that night. He didn't think it was possible for New York to get any colder, but this night was proving that it was.

He entered the suite and was greeted with a warmth that he didn't think he'd feel again until spring. He smiled as he approached the dimly lit bedroom, but he didn't see his wife.

"Looking for me?" Her voice came from the small sitting room to his side.

Ricky turned to see her rising from a chair. She was wearing the blue gown, but he could see that she was wearing nothing underneath it as her nipples pushed up against the fabric. "You left so fast…"

Lucy smiled as she approached him and rested a hand on his chest. "You were pretty busy today."

He leaned closer to her, his hands quickly moving around her waist. "I'm sorry about that. How can I make it up to you?" His lips fell against her neck.

She responded breathlessly but with a smile. "What do you have in mind?"

Ricky placed his finger gently under the strap of her gown and tugged it away from her shoulder, repeating the act on her other side. When the gown slipped away from her body, confirming his suspicion that she was indeed, fully nude underneath, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Lucy tilted her head. "I thought I'd save you some time."

He rolled his eyes playfully before picking her up into his arms. "I have a little time now, I think," he teased, carrying her to the bed and resting her down gently.

She looked up at him as he climbed over her and she tugged on the buttons of his shirt. When her fingers reached the bare skin of his chest, he inhaled sharply. "You're hands are cold!"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She pulled him closer to her and kissed him, their tongues meeting warmly and moving together slowly.

Ricky's fingertips traced the undersides of her breasts for a moment before he wrapped his hands around them, forcing a whimper from her throat as their lips parted.

Lucy responded by running her hands along his stomach and yanking open his pants, freeing his lengthening erection. She took it into her fingers and stroked it slowly to the sound of his low growls as he bit her ear softly.

He lowered one of his hands to caress her warm center, which, by now, felt as though it were coated with liquid satin. She bit her lip, arching her back as his fingers primed her to receive what she craved.

She raised her knees around him and his hands again settled around her breasts as he gently sucked on the soft skin of her neck, careful not to leave a blemish on her creamy complexion.

When Ricky entered her, she let out a cry. She did so again and again with each slow, full thrust that he unleashed upon her. As he continued his rhythmic movements, he left his kisses along her cheek. The way she tightened around his throbbing manhood elicited groans from his own lips. "Ay, Dios, mi querida…"

Lucy smiled, her knees gripping his hips as she used all her strength to roll him onto his back until she had gained control of him.

His hands slipped up her stomach and again circled her breasts as she lowered herself onto him and gripped the carved headboard above him.

She quickened her pace, riding him expertly as he thrust upward into her.

Finally, as she cried out in her trembling climax, he released his heated passions into her.

Lucy sank down to lay on his chest as his arms encircled her in his embrace.

After several silent minutes, Ricky spoke softly. "I have a mind to tell Fred not to fix the water until May."

She giggled. "Where will we stay, here? That'll cost a fortune."

"It's worth it," he whispered.


End file.
